My Plein Air Adventures
Plein Air is where I share stories of how I attempt to capture the beauty of the outdoors through painting and observation.
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My Journey into Plein Air…so far
This is a Learning Journey Initially my goal was to focus on sea and sky, and in particular, skies. For years I painted with watercolours mainly because I was confident with the media and it’s portability. To be fair, when I started Plein Air painting I was pretty much an accomplished studio watercolour painter. I thought the transition to Plein Air would be easy for me. For the most part it was. My first attempt with water mixable oils was another story altogether. I was attempting to paint in a high altitude desert in Wyoming. I certainly didn’t know my materials and certainly was unprepared for the dry mountain air. …
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May you live in interesting times…
My father had a quote that he used to like to say quite often and it really was both a blessing and a curse. May you live in interesting times Well, 2020 proved to be a clear reflection of the meaning of that expression. So much to be grateful for and yet so much uncertainty. 2020 clearly a year of many changes Personally I made a number of changes in my world. I made the decision to leave my day job so I could dedicate more time to painting. This was truly one of the best decisions ever. Ironically though, with this decision, came the reality of isolating away in…
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To Santa Fe and back
This trip had been loosely planned for a year I mean we all registered on the last day of PACE 17 when we hear it would be in Santa Fe. Other than that, we waited until January to book flights and the hotel room for the trip home. And maybe just maybe, we should have really scrutinized the schedule first. Who has time to be that planful? On the road again Two friends and i planned to meet at the airport in Albuquerque, rent a car (really really expensive) and drive to Santa Fe. I Googled the satellite maps to look at the roads to mentally prepare me for the…
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Memories of California
I am somewhat jet lagged after just returning home from almost three weeks in magical California. Seriously with all the flight delays my head hit the pillow at 4:30am! Other than trying to get home, it was truly an amazing experience. Although it was seriously chillier than I expected it would be. But the sun was shining almost every day and the sky was so blue. Never had the chance to share the experience while I was travelling. Happiness is being that kind of busy. PACE 2017 – This is a lot of what it was about The opportunity to paint along side of plein air artists, watch what other…
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Plein Air Convention -Post #2
Home again home again Now that we have returned from our extended trip to Arizona, we have acclimatized from the four hour time difference, we are recovering from that dratted cold virus, and I have caught up with all the web site work for the upcoming Studio Tour (phew!), I can finally get back to my painting and blog posting. We fell in love with Arizona. I mean how could you not, especially Tuscon! My husband and I stayed in this area for an additional four days after #PACE was over and did the tourist bit. We really could have stayed in the area for a full week and never run out of…
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Plein Air in Arizona
I have just returned from the Plein Air Conference and Expo (PACE 16) in Tucson Arizona! And what a wonderful experience it was. I will be creating a few posts on this experience I am sure. There was so much to do and to take in. I met up with a few friends there Jane Hagen Freeman and Marilyn Wear. Marilyn was a prize winner – was so exciting to be there to see her win! We attended many daily sessions for interest and to help us hone our plein air skills. I also met up with Poppy Balser from Nova Scotia! It was so hot there that my…
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Plein Air at the Red Head dyke
The best intentions do not always go according to plan I had the day planned with intentions to paint in the morning at the dyke in Red Head. Got up. The sun was shining. Yes a wonderful day to paint Plein Air. I loaded up the car and drove into Saint John. As I approached town you could not help but notice the fog. Heavy fog over the Bay. Fog so thick you could not see Partridge Island, my intended target for the day. Anyway I set up my easel. Got my pallet out, poured water into the funny blue cup you see there on the easel. Then one…
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Painting at the Nature Park
Oxymoron alert Yesterday was such a beautiful day that I had to get outdoors and paint. Oxymoron alert – Spontaneity like this requires a lot of thinking on my part. Do I want to take my watercolours? Or perhaps my Oils? Or even acrylics? As I pondered and gathered up all my stuff, I decided to bring both watercolours and acrylics. Ran through the usual checklist, water – check, paper towels – check, garbage bag- check, hat- check etc. Finally felt I was ready to go with he car all packed up. Then another decision – where to go? I went to Meenans Cove Beach but was unable to…
